China fab recruits Chartered veteran as CEO

LONDON – Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (WXIC), a maker of NOR flash memories on 300-mm wafers, has appointed Simon Yang, a former Intel and Chartered Semiconductor executive, as CEO.

One of Yang's first imperatives will be to build an internationally qualified executive team, the company said. It is clear whether Yang intends to change the product manufacturing strategy of the company. In addition to manufacturing NOR flash memories, WXIC describes itself as a foundry offering manufacturing processes at the 90- and 45-nm technology nodes.

WXIC was formed by the local government of Wuhan district of China and originally managed on its behalf by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (Beijing, China). The fab started production in 2008 and the management deal evolved into an investment relationship in 2011.

Yang previously held positions as chief technology officer and senior vice president of operations for Chartered Semiconductor (Singapore), which is now part of Globalfoundries Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.). He worked for Intel for several years, where his last position was as senior director of logic technology development. Yang received his PhD in materials engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

"We have an excellent foundation for 300-mm manufacturing capacity, and are well-positioned to implement aggressive technology initiatives," said Yang, in a statement.

Jizeng Wang, chairman of WXIC, said: "We are delighted to have someone of Dr. Yang's caliber and stature to lead WXIC. His past experiences, proven technical understanding, and management expertise will enable us to strengthen the company's global competitiveness and open new opportunities for us."

Simon is a high caliber chip veteran and Congratulations to him.In the ever changing world of chip manufacturing, the real question to most foundries is are you adding "capacity to technology" or "technology to capacity"?